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For new friends, welcome! We are an interdisciplinary network of Masters, PhD and Early Career Researchers focused on defence, security and military topics concerning policy, strategy, history, culture and society. We hope you find our network interesting, exciting, informative, and supportive.
For old friends, thanks for your continued involvement. It is always worth remembering that we would be nothing without you! For our May newsletter we are talking about Veterans and Families. We have lots to share with you so we hope you enjoy the read.
Scroll down to get up to date with the news, opinions, events and opportunities from our members...
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Welcome to this edition of the Defence Research Network newsletter!
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and its sporadic intervals of sunshine and rain! This month's newsletter offers some great summertime reading as we explore "Strategy, War, and Ethics." Our research spotlights focus on two fascinating projects that question the relationship between ethics and strategic success in counterinsurgency campaigns and the construction of foreign war "returnees" in Germany, respectively. This introduction precedes a short reflection on the adaptability of Just War Theory to contemporary warfare's unique challenges. Anticipating some intellectual curiosity, we have included a list of recommended academic journals for further reading! Finally, don't miss the link to the Centre for Military Ethics at King's College London for a valuable resource with some excellent research communication tips.
Our members have had a productive month, which you can check out in the 'news from our community' section. We encourage you to explore the collated events and opportunities section, which details prospective conferences and webinars that will be of interest to our community. These events are excellent opportunities for further learning and networking.
Thank you to all for your valuable contributions. As always, we value your inputs and insights, essential to the success of our network. Please do not hesitate to send us any ideas or submissions for our upcoming themes.
Finally, we are taking next month off, so please don't panic if your inbox doesn't ping in August—I assume we always have you glued to your desk chairs in anticipation!
Happy reading!
Stay cool (in temperature and temperament!)
Tegan Watt Harrison
Newsletter Editor
Defence Research Network
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Research Spotlights
Edited by Baris Celik
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We are delighted to be able to put the spotlight on some ECRs and some more experienced researchers working in the field of war, strategy, and ethics. Below, we share with you some recent publications and updates from these individuals, currently on different stages of their research projects.
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Phil Mayne is an Associate Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of York. His research seeks to analyse the strategic influence of ethics.
Phil completed his PhD thesis (titled ‘Ethics or Efficacy? Examining Strategic Ethics and Counterinsurgency’) at the University of Hull in 2022. His thesis examined the relationship between ethics and strategic success in counterinsurgency campaigns. ‘Ethics or Efficacy?’ examined four historical case studies: the Malayan Emergency, Kenyan Emergency, the Algerian War and the Vietnam War. The thesis demonstrated that unethical conduct is generally detrimental to strategic outcomes and success, however it raises questions of success and in some cases unethical conduct can be strategically successful.
Phil is currently working on publishing his research. He is currently working on turning the thesis into a monograph (to be published by Routledge, with the inclusion of a chapter on the War in Afghanistan.
Phil’s future research will focus on the ethical narrative of conflicts, and how ethical language has been used (or misused) for strategic gain.
For more information about Phil's research, he can be contacted at phil.mayne@york.ac.uk
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Louise Tiessen is a PhD candidate in International Conflict Analysis at the University of Kent, UK. The submission date is coming up in September. Her research focuses on foreign war volunteer returnees, specifically in the context of Germany since the 1990s.
Louise’s PhD research project was sparked by Germany’s 2019 decision to update the country’s denationalization legislation. It allows the state to revoke the citizenship of future adult dual citizens who join a foreign terrorist organization. So far, it has not been used, but it symbolizes the increasing resort of Western states to make use of or threat with denationalization as a counterterrorism measure.
Thus, the dissertation sought to investigate how Germany has constructed and managed ‘the returnee’ from foreign conflicts since the reunification of East and West. Instead of focusing solely on the Islamic State returnee, Louise included a variety of ideological cases – from right-wing, left-wing, and jihadis – and a variety of different conflicts – from Bosnia, Waziristan, Ukraine, and Syria and Iraq. The main argument, therefore, put forward is that logics of citizenship play a key role in the representation and management of these different returnees. How a returnee phenomenon is written about matters in how they are dealt with – or, crucially, not dealt with.
The aim of the dissertation, and the publications that will follow, is to challenge the current conceptualization of the ‘foreign fighter’ and ‘returnee’ as predominantly Muslim. The history of foreign volunteering clearly shows, as well as Louise’s dissertation, that not every returnee is a ‘terrorist’, nor is every returnee a ‘threat’ and ‘foreign’.
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Reflections on debates about Ethics and War
by Phil Mayne
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Ethics seek to both limit and legitimise conflicts. The most well-known set of moral principles is the Just War Tradition. The Just War Tradition (JWT) provides guidance on when an actor may legitimately resort to war (jus ad bellum) and how it should be conducted (jus in bello). According to the tradition, wars are only justified when a legitimate authority fights in self-defence, as a last resort, with right intention, and the war is a proportional response. The war must also be fought with discriminate and proportional force.
The key debates on ethics and war often concern questions about the suitability of the JWT and modern war. For example, the JWT demands that combatants discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Conflicts like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria demonstrate the difficulty of discriminating between legitimate and illegitimate targets when fighting an insurgency. Questions arise about whether in bello restraints are too restrictive in these types of conflicts.
Other key ethical concerns have been the use of torture in counter terror operations. During the Global War on Terror, torture was used by the US and other states to obtain intelligence. This resulted in debates around whether torture can be justified against terrorists.
At the time of writing, debates in both academia and in the media focus on the War in Ukraine and the war in Gaza. Reports of civilian casualties on both sides, and the deliberate targeting of non-combatants, has influenced the perception of combatants on the world stage.
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Academic journals on strategy, war and ethics
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Centre for Military Ethics, Kings College London
Edited by Hannah West
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If you haven't come across the work of the Centre for Military Ethics, I would really recommend taking a look at their website to learn a bit more about what they do. I think it is a fascinating project that has translated a complex concept that could be off putting to engage with into a practical resource appropriate for a range of audiences. Even if your research interests are not in military ethics, there is a lot you can learn about communicating research in innovative formats. Read on to learn a bit more about their playing cards....
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'At the heart of the thinking behind Centre for Military Ethics is the determination to provide an open access, free, quality, research led online resource that can be used by anyone, anywhere, to foster ethical awareness and help promote effective ethical decision making in military environments.'
Click on the link below to watch a video about the centre and find further links to their website. Below you can see an example of the playing cards (and if you click on it you will be able to visit their playing card page where you can access the resources online or via app stores). The tweet below demonstrates the international reach of this initiative.
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News from our committee & community
Edited by Tegan Harrison
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Thank you for all your contributions to this edition! It is wonderful to hear from you and we do enjoy sharing your work with our members. Please enjoy reading said contributions below!
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Dr Veronika Poniscjakova continues her work with the media. She has offered commentary for France 24 and TVP World.
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Lucy Robinson featured in the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre's July edition! You can read her interview - where she discusses her doctoral research and perspectives on future research directions - here: http://fimt-rc.org.
Don't forget to subscribe so you can receive future editions straight to your inbox!
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What we have been listening to
Edited by Veronika Poniscjakova
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Do get in touch if you have heard a fascinating podcast or you have been involved in one, we'd love to include it in a future newsletter.
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July Twitter Hour: Strategy, War and Ethics
Edited by Lucy Robinson
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This month's #TwitterHour was on 'Strategy, War and Ethics'! Thank you very much to all those who engaged with the four questions. Below, we share the highlights!
1. How important are ethics to strategic outcomes?
- Although not always considered at the moment of conflict, history points out how ethics are important to keep our sense of humanity and preserve memory and reparation during post-conflict scenarios.
- Although they can be crucial (e.g. states' unethical practices leading can jeopardise their strategic goals), I see wars separate from this. Judging the outcomes of war against ethical criteria can imply that there can be a more ethical aim of war, which I find problematic.
- Ethics are one of the dimensions of strategy and therefore ethics matter. How? It comes down to perceptions and the population. E.g. A moral high ground (see western doctrine) helps influence support for a war. "A morally framed argument can strike hard" as Colin Gray wrote.
- They are not the most important thing - and they may only matter if the moral code is accepted - but they do matter. This is why leaders go to considerable lengths to convince the population of the justice of their wars. (Something we should contest!)
2. What historical battles do you find most strategically interesting, and why?
- Several battles are important for a varied number of reasons and circumstances. Historically, I would mention the Battle of Salami and the Battle of Actium. But contemporarily, I suppose the “so-called” Small wars are intriguing as they challenge several ideas and concepts in this regard, especially what makes a war “big or small”. The Falklands and the US-Iraq War Surge would be interesting examples to think about.
- Battle of Algiers (Algerian War) - militarily success, but (arguably) a strategic failure. Battle of Tora Bora (War in Afghanistan) - opens up a lot of counterfactuals (e.g. what would have happened if more ground troops had been sent to prevent the Taliban and AQ?
- In the context of the current debate on maritime democracies' priorities (Ukraine versus Indo-Pacific), I would suggest paying close attention to Nomonjan and France. The latter including the counterfactual of a delaying action allowing a significant evacuation to North Africa.
3. Are drones and so-called robot soldiers changing the rules of war?
- It depends on what one understands by “rules of war”. I personally do not think that those new means change the nature of warfare, for instance. However, it’s undeniable that they are challenging the rules of engagement now and (will challenge in the future), which brings us to think about ethics as well.
- Among other things, they lower the threshold for using force as misidentified “suspicious activities” can be picked up and acted on by drone operators. For example, I remember Mamana Bibi, a 68 year-old woman in Pakistan, who was killed by a remotely piloted aircraft in 2012.
- Drone use during the GWOT has scores of examples like this - which resulted in tensions between the US govt. And the govts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- Q3 made me think of Peter Lee @CeisrUop and his book 'Reaper Force : The Inside Story of Britain's Drone Wars' but I don't think he is on Twitter. Thought this podcast might be of interest to those engaging with this question though.... Life Solved | University of Portsmouth (Episode 5).
4. Do ethics constrain service personnel in achieving their objectives?
- I suppose that ethics are the remainder of humanity in war and conflict rather than a constraint, a dim light that brings some sense of mankind amidst brutality. Some interesting examples of that could be seen even during the World Wars and, to the limit, this is what separates human service personnel from “killer robots”, for instance.
- In the context of war, I would say no. I think wars are very difficult to control in their entirety, especially when it comes to on-the-ground dynamics. As we have seen, and we are seeing, no matter how moral their aims, warring sides can easily carry out unethical practices.
- Depends on the level of strategy we are looking at. At the tactical lvl soldiers can feel restrained (often unfairly) - and have ignored the rules. However, in certain types of conflicts (e.g. COIN) breaks of perceived moral norms at the tactical lvl can affect the strat lvl.
- Ethics are absolutely crucial for service personnel.
Thanks again to all those who contributed! #DefResChat
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The Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Victims, Perpetrators, Justice, and the Question of Genocide
Diana Dumitru, A. Dirk Moses
This new edited book examines various aspects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, exploring critical issues such as Russian sexual violence against Ukrainians, forced transfers of Ukrainian children, and the portrayal of events like Bucha on social media. It also discusses the initial Ukrainian refugee crisis in Poland and the broader pursuit of justice, including genocide claims at the International Court of Justice.
You can get a copy here.
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Surviving the Islamic State: Contention, Cooperation, and Neutrality in Wartime Iraq
Austin J. Knuppe
This new book explores how ordinary Iraqis survived the occupation by ISIS. It details how Iraqis used various survival strategies, which varied by community, to navigate wartime violence. The book reveals how responses differed in cosmopolitan, rural, and minority communities, offering profound insights into civilian-insurgent interactions and political violence. Through in-depth surveys and interviews, it sheds light on the complex decisions Iraqis faced under ISIS control.
You can get a copy here.
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The Ethics of Insurgency: A Critical Guide to Just Guerrilla Warfare
Michael L. Gross
As insurgencies rage, a burning question remains: how should insurgents fight technologically superior state armies? Commentators rarely ask this question because the catchphrase 'we fight by the rules, but they don't' is nearly axiomatic. But truly, are all forms of guerrilla warfare equally reprehensible? Can we think cogently about just guerrilla warfare? May guerrilla tactics such as laying improvised explosive devices (IEDs), assassinating informers, using human shields, seizing prisoners of war, conducting cyber strikes against civilians, manipulating the media, looting resources, or using nonviolence to provoke violence prove acceptable under the changing norms of contemporary warfare? The short answer is 'yes', but modern guerrilla warfare requires a great deal of qualification, explanation, and argumentation before it joins the repertoire of acceptable military behavior. Not all insurgents fight justly, but guerrilla tactics and strategies are also not always the heinous practices that state powers often portray them to be.
You can get a copy here.
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Ethics and Military Strategy in the 21st Century: Moving Beyond Clausewitz
George Lucas, Jr.
This book examines the importance of "military ethics" in the formulation and conduct of contemporary military strategy.
Clausewitz’s original analysis of war relegated ethics to the side-lines in favor of political realism, interpreting the proper use of military power solely to further the political goals of the state, whatever those may be. This book demonstrates how such single-minded focus no longer suffices to secure the interest of states, for whom the nature of warfare has evolved to favor strategies that hold combatants themselves to the highest moral and professional standards in their conduct of hostilities. Waging war has thus been transformed in a manner that moves beyond Clausewitz’s original conception, rendering political success wholly dependent upon the cultivation and exercise of discerning moral judgment by strategists and combatants in the field. This book utilizes a number of perspectives and case studies to demonstrate how ethics now plays a central role in strategy in modern armed conflict.
This book will be of much interest to students of just war, ethics, military strategy, and international relations.
You can get a copy here.
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Pursuing Moral Warfare: Ethics in American, British, and Israeli Counterinsurgency
Marcus Schulzke
During combat, soldiers make life-and-death choices dozens of times a day. These individual decisions accumulate to determine the outcome of wars. This work examines the theory and practice of military ethics in counterinsurgency operations. Marcus Schulzke surveys the ethical traditions that militaries borrow from; compares ethics in practice in the US Army, British Army and Royal Marines Commandos, and Israel Defense Forces; and draws conclusions that may help militaries refine their approaches in future conflicts. The work is based on interviews with veterans and military personnel responsible for ethics training, review of training materials and other official publications, published accounts from combat veterans, and observation of US Army focus groups with active-duty soldiers. Schulzke makes a convincing argument that though military ethics cannot guarantee flawless conduct, incremental improvements can be made to reduce war’s destructiveness while improving the success of counterinsurgency operations.
You can get a copy here.
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At War with Women: Military Humanitarianism and Imperial Feminism in an Era of Permanent War
Jennifer Greenburg
At War with Women reveals how post-9/11 politics of gender and development have transformed US military power. In the mid-2000s, the US military used development as a weapon as it revived counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military assembled all-female teams to reach households and wage war through development projects in the battle for "hearts and minds." Despite women technically being banned from ground combat units, the all-female teams were drawn into combat nonetheless. Based on ethnographic fieldwork observing military trainings, this book challenges liberal feminist narratives that justified the Afghanistan War in the name of women's rights and celebrated women's integration into combat as a victory for gender equality.
Jennifer Greenburg critically interrogates a new imperial feminism and its central role in securing US hegemony. Women's incorporation into combat through emotional labor has reinforced gender stereotypes, with counterinsurgency framing female soldiers as global ambassadors for women's rights. This book provides an analysis of US imperialism that keeps the present in tension with the past, clarifying where colonial ideologies of race, gender, and sexuality have resurfaced and how they are changing today.
You can get a copy here.
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Events...
Edited by Lucy Robinson
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Click on the images below, or follow the links, to find out more about these upcoming events.
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Opportunities...
If you would like to advertise any upcoming opportunities, please let us know via email.
Edited by Lucy Robinson
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Click on the images below, or follow the links, to find out more about these upcoming opportunities.
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Real Stories 2024 is an online gallery of images submitted by the UK Armed Forces community. Real Stories provides the opportunity to view the UK Armed Forces community's experiences through their own lens and presented in a way of their choosing. We hope this virtual art gallery will be educational, informative and will help raise awareness and understanding of what life is like for the Armed Forces community. We are inviting members of the UK Armed Forces community to submit one or more images that capture meaningful life events. When we say meaningful life events, we’re thinking: moving house, family changes (e.g. having a baby), leaving service, moving school and promotion. Meaningful can also be having a cup of tea with friends, family or loved ones. Real Stories 2024 will be exhibited at Veterans’ Mental Health Conference this year, online gallery and as a printed album.
Real Stories 2021 gives you an impression of the project we ran successfully a couple of years ago. Real Stories 2021 was well received by those who took part and contributors found it particularly moving when they saw their image printed amidst the full array of photographs.
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The Military History Welfare Network, in addition to their 2025 conference in July of next year, will be holding an event entitled '"'Demobbed': The Social, Cultural, Political, and Economic Legacies of Military Service - examining the experiences of veterans in the post-service landscape'. Organized by Dr Michelle Moffat (MMU), the event will take place on 30-31 May 2025 and is open for abstracts. The details for this are below!
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As always, keep an eye on our Twitter for new events and opportunities posted/retweeted every day!
Planning a future event?
If you are planning a defence-related event and you would like to reach an audience of like-minded researchers, we'd love to come along! Drop us an email and we can include it in our next newsletter.
If you are interested in any of our events but don't want to go alone, or simply want to expand your network, please reach out on Twitter or drop us an email and we can connect you with fellow DRN members who may be planning to attend.
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We hope you've enjoyed our news, tips and recommendations so far. In case you missed our previous newsletter editions, check out our archive section here!
As usual, we will be looking to showcase some early-career researchers in research spotlights in the newsletter so don't be shy! And we welcome any suggestions for 'in conversation with' pieces with more established academics. And let us know about any relevant events, from book launches to webinars. We'll keep an eye on our Twitter account to keep you posted!
Keep an eye on @DefenceResNet for more information and check out the website for a preview of the questions for the next #DefResChat. You can also find all our previous #DefResChats on the Archive section of our website. Make sure to tag @DefenceResNet and hashtag #DefResChat to join the conversation.
See you soon and many thanks for being part of our network!
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Do you have a blog or publication you would like to promote? Don't hesitate to share it with us via email and we can add it to our newlsetter.
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Thank you so much for joining our network.
Have you recently won an award, had your paper published, launched a book or are you organising an event? We want to hear from you! We are always looking for new content for our newsletter and would love to showcase the great work of our members.
For queries, more information, or just to tell us about yourself, don't hesitate to contact us on Twitter @DefenceResNet or at defenceresearchnetwork@gmail.com
The DRN team
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